KUALA LUMPUR, JULY 9- The fight for the Kuala Besut seat will be a tough one, PAS’s by-election director Husam Musa admitted today, but he stressed that PAS would not be giving in despite the odds stacked against them.
“BN won the seat with a rather large majority in the general election…we know the by-election is a heavy responsibility because the government machinery is on BN’s side,” the PAS vice president said somberly at a press conference today following a Pakatan Rakyat leadership council meeting.
But he said the Kuala Besut locals would require a leader close to them and could understand their needs, and he believed PAS’s candidate could fill that void. “So the seat won’t necessarily be impossible for Pakatan to win.
We still have a shot at winning,” said Musa, who had contested for the Putrajaya parliamentary seat in the general election, but lost to Tengku Adnan Mansor.
He added that should a PAS candidate win in Kuala Besut, the whole of Terengganu would benefit as the party intended to come up with a “comprehensive agenda”.
“Terengganu produces petroleum, yet the people of Kuala Besut are among the poorest in the country because they are not given equal economic benefits.
“That is why the chance to improve the effectiveness of their petroleum production now lies in the hands of the Kuala Besut locals,” said Husam.
He added that the party intended to employ a different campaign strategy this time around, given the fact that they lost by 2,434 votes to the BN candidate, the late A Rahman Mokhtar.
But he was coy on the details, stressing instead that he was hoping the Election Commission would be transparent this time around as there would be over a 1,000 postal voters.
The Islamist party will announce the Kuala Besut candidate tonight, after several weeks of conflict among the opposition coalition over who would contest the recently-vacated seat.
Several PKR members had previously expressed interest in contesting the seat, including those from the party’s women’s wing.
Meanwhile, DAP had suggested PAS boycott the Kuala Besut polls altogether as a sign of protest against the “corrupt” Election Commission.
But PKR de facto leader Anwar and DAP national advisor Lim Kit Siang, who were also present at the press conference today, expressed full support for their ally in the by-election, which will be held on July 24.
“We are giving our strongest support. I urge all voters to come out and support PAS’s candidate so that we can give BN a big shock,” said Lim.
Democratic right to contest
On related matter, PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu said that no one has the right to stop anyone else from contesting in the by-election as it was a democratic process.
Mat Sabu, as he is popularly known, was responding to Besut MP Idris Jusoh’ comment yesterday that PAS should give a free ride to BN in the by-election.
Kuala Besut is a state seat under Besut. “I don’t know whether PAS will win big or lose but we have decided to contest. The 2,434 majority is not a huge difference,” he said.
Yesterday, Idris was reported as saying that Pakatan should give BN a free ride as it was the holy month of Ramadan and it could reduce politicking among all parties.
He added that it will be difficult for PAS to beat BN’s 2,434 majority win the latter got in the general election.
Market demolition will be an issue Meanwhile, PAS’s Kuala Terengganu MP Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah said the party would highlight impending demolition threats lingering over several local markets in the upcoming by-election.
He told a press conference in the Parliament lounge that the issue of Kuala Terengganu’s heritage market – Pasar Payang – being earmarked for demolition had played a big part in PAS winning all the four state seats and the parliamentary seat in the last general election.
He added that many of the 900 merchants in Pasar Payang were from the rural areas and their eviction would definitely have a spillover effect in the by-election.
He said a market in Kuala Besut also faced the same problem whereby many merchants received notice asking them to vacate their stalls after the general election last month.
Raja Kamarul also pointed out that a 700-acre education hub project in the area launched during former Terengganu MB Idris Jusoh’s times had been abandoned now.
He said under the Taman Ilmu project, the state government was supposed to build the basic infrastructures and invite private colleges to setup campuses there.
“But the funding was not forthcoming, the project has been left unattended by the current MB perhaps due to the difference he has with the old MB.
“Why is an education project being sidelined?” he asked.
